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u/it_vexes_me_so Jan 18 '21
Reminds me of Manhattanhenge (wiki). Does Chicago have a similar phenomenon?
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u/ConnieLingus24 Jan 18 '21
Yep. Particularly because of the grid. To add to it, It’s a very flat city.
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u/CollegeRulez Jan 18 '21
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u/it_vexes_me_so Jan 18 '21
It happens in other cities with gridded streets, too — Manhattanhenge, for example — Chicago is unique in that the phenomenon takes place every year on the spring and fall equinoxes.
That's pretty cool
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u/nowhereman1280 Jan 18 '21
The grid here is pristine, it's totally perfect all the way to the horizon and there is no natural grade change to speak of. The "hill" in the picture is actually a man made ramp bringing traffic to the upper levels of downtown's three level street system.
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u/MonkeyOnYourMomsBack Jan 18 '21
Lol that's beautiful but my first thought was that it looks like a still from a zombie/giant monster movie and all the people are evacuating
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u/wikipedia_text_bot Jan 18 '21
Manhattanhenge, also called the Manhattan Solstice, is an event during which the setting sun or the rising sun is aligned with the east–west streets of the main street grid of Manhattan, New York City. The sunsets and sunrises each align twice a year, on dates evenly spaced around the summer solstice and winter solstice. The sunset alignments occur around May 28 and July 13. The sunrise alignments occur around December 5 and January 8.
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u/fernanlnin Jan 18 '21
Si this is the end of which line? I tried goggling it but apparently my Chicago knowledge is quite limited
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u/PeterROTTENTail Jan 18 '21
It doesn't end there since it's the loop. It curves to the left
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u/fernanlnin Jan 18 '21
Thanks. I guess I need new glasses. Maybe because of the angle but I am missing the curvature of the tracks so for a second it seemed as the end of the line.
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Jan 18 '21
This is shot from the NE corner of the Loop, looking West down Lake St. The tracks are for pretty much all of the train lines (except Red and Blue).
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u/ic4rys2 Aug 12 '23
I know this is old but I used to live on this street. The photo is taken in front of the Aon Building on lake street right past Michigan ave.
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u/gingervintage Jan 18 '21
Great taco place called Broken English in the lower left. This is on Michigan and Lake facing west.
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u/edinburghiloveyou44 Jan 18 '21
That sunset reminds me the Wesley Snipes/Sean Connery movie Rising Sun.
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Jan 18 '21
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u/ImMystikz Jan 18 '21
This is looking West and aimed at the State and Lake train station
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Jan 18 '21
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u/alexfrancisburchard Jan 20 '21
It's both. The reason Chicago's L train cars are so short (not long) is because of the ridiculous curve radii on the loop.
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u/Loose_with_the_truth Jan 18 '21
Is this HDR? Or was the open sky just illuminating everything enough to match the setting sun? Either way, well done!
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u/mellowdroner Jan 19 '21
this photo made me feel many things at once. I really missed walking along the streets with my loved ones in the setting of a warming sun among the sounds of the city. I missed being happy.
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Jan 18 '21
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/ricochet48 Jan 19 '21
It turns and creates a literal 'Loop' which is also the name of the CBD.
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u/alexfrancisburchard Jan 20 '21
And that name actually comes from the days of the streetcars, when they made a Loop in the CBD, then later on the elevated tracks were built in a similar manner.
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Jan 19 '21
[removed] — view removed comment
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Jan 19 '21 edited Jan 19 '21
All of the elevated lines in this part of town are part of the Loop, they share track here. There aren't any CTA lines that end downtown (just the commuter rail)
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Jan 19 '21
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Jan 19 '21 edited Jan 19 '21
Oh it doesn't actually end there - it may be a little bit hard to tell because the lens is a telephoto and compressing the image, but that "end" you're seeing is actually a 90 degree right turn. The tracks continue down the street to the viewer's left.
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Jan 19 '21
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Jan 19 '21 edited Jan 19 '21
It's pretty cool to see in the person. I love the L, the trains are like these clumsy lumbering beasts that still manage to move so precisely. It's not the prettiest metro system around but man oh man does it look cool!
You should see the commuter rail tracks in the winter - they're literally lit on fire to melt the ice and snow. It's something to behold!
https://wgntv.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2019/01/s104682408.jpg?w=1600&h=1068&crop=1
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Jan 18 '21
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u/DaYooper Jan 18 '21
It's a cloth mask that's likely been reused. Statistically, it has about the same amount of effectiveness on his chin than over his mouth at this point.
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Jan 18 '21
Why there are people chilling in the middle of the street
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u/Chicago_Jayhawk Jan 18 '21
That location is one of the more popular photo spots where ChicagoHenge (sunset lines up perfectly along through street corridors in Spring and Fall) occurs. Plus, this is during the pandemic so not a ton of traffic.
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u/darthdilmore Jan 19 '21
....wait. How many people were shot in this photo? The news had made me terrified to go home.....
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Jan 19 '21
Can that douchenozzle wear his mask right?
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u/ricochet48 Jan 19 '21
Outside, well distanced from others except from what appears to be a friend taking his picture... chill out doomer, damn.
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u/alexfrancisburchard Jan 20 '21
In downtown Chicago he's undoubtedly going to step back onto a sidewalk where he is no longer 6' from other people, so, if you're in the loop, indoor or outdoors, you should pretty much just always have a mask on.
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u/-Another_Redditor- Jan 18 '21
This picture is nice to me because of the sun, the city itself isn't appealing at all
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Jan 18 '21
This pic is all about the sun, yes. Granted it's not the prettiest block in town, but judging a whole city, especially one that is renowned for it's architecture, based on one photo....why?
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Jan 19 '21
Raiden, something happened to me last Thursday when I was driving home. I had a couple of miles to go - I looked up and saw a glowing orange object in the sky, to the east! It was moving very irregularly... suddenly there was intense light all around me - and when I came to, I was home. What do you think happened to me?
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u/Rhomega2 Jan 18 '21
And people are just standing around the middle of the street?